Akcalous wyqkoff



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARCALOUS WYOKOFF, or ELMIRA, NEW YORK.

WATER-PIPE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 32,100, dated April. 16, 1861.

To all whom "it may concern: I j

Be it known that I, ARoALoUs IVYoKorr,

of Elmira, inthecounty of Chemung and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved yVaterePipe; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification. s

Figure lis a view in perspective, of a joint ofiny improved water pipe, of small or merchantable size, a portion of the outer covering of cement being removed, to show the coiling of. the metallic band around the wooden tube; Fig; 2, a central longitudinal section of two joints ofthe wooden tube or pipe, united; also a detached view in perspective, of the wooden thimble by which the joints are united; Fig. 3, aview (corresponding with F ig. 1) in perspective of a portion of thewater pipe of large size, to be finished only as laid in the trench prepared for its reception in the ground. Fig. 4 a transverse section, exhibiting the pipe as laid in the trench.

Like letters designate parts in all the figures.

. The object of my invention is to construct a water pipe which shall retain'the advantages of unequal cheapness and perfect cleanliness and salubrity of wooden pipes, and also possess the requisite tightness, strength and durability sought for, in using iron or any other kind of pipes.

In order to retain the cleanliness and wholesomeness of the wooden'pipe, I make of wood the interior of the new water pipe, or all which. comes in direct contact with the water. To secure the requisite strength, I wind the wood with iron or other metallic band. For securing the necessary tightness at the joints, I employ interior thimbles of wood, which close the joints tight by the permanent swelling of the fibers with the water itself. The desired durability is effected inpart, by the outer coating of cement, and partly by the incessant saturation of the wood with the water; and this uninterrupted saturation is accomplished by the extraordinary thinness of the wood rendered feasible by the use of the winding band and exterior cement; And, the additional cost the metallic .band and exterior cement is in corresponding greatmeasure, compensated by this superior thinness of the wood, in greatly economizing the material of the wood itself, thereby maintaining a cheapness of construction unattainable by any other kind of Water pipe known. l

The interior wooden pipe A, when strengthened by the metallic band B, and cement coveringG, is required to be but little if any thicker than ordinary iron pipes of the same diameter are; butit is proper to proportion itsomewhat to the head or pressure of wate'r,to which it is to be subjected. And whatever may be wanting in the strength of the wood, is. to be supplied by the strength of the iron or other metallic band. The cement covering C, also adds more or less to the actual strengthof the pipe, yet it may not be best to rely on this in calculating the strength required; I

In order that the thinness of the wood may be taken full advantage-of, in economizing the material, I out the wooden pipes from the timber by means of annular augers, many improvements in which I am the inventor. or possessor of. These augers, in boring a pipe, out only a comparatively thin kerf, leaving all the interiorwood, as a core, inside, entire. So that by beginning with the largest size of pipe which can be bored from apiece of timber, and then boring a smaller but largest possible size of pipe: from the core left, and so on in the same way down tothe smallest pipe used, it is seen that several joints or pieces of pipe, of different diameters, are obtained from one piece or length of timber, and the thinner the pipe, the more of such jointsare obtained therefrom. .Augers of all the difi'er- 'ent ,sizes required are used for the purpose; and in laying mains and service pipes, in different places, all the different sizes come into requisition. By this method of cutting be separate bands or hoops for each turn it around the pipe; but generally the spiral modeof winding a single band several times around eachjoint or section, is thesimplest and cheapest method. The closeness of the cords may be determined by the strength of pipe required, and in relation to the thickness of the pipe and size of the band.

The covering C, employed, is a hydraulic or other suitable calcareous cement, which will harden around the pipe, and remain close and unbroken. The preparation and use of such cements being familiar in the arts, it is unnecessary to specify the ingredients. This calcareous cement or covering fulfils a two-fold purpose in preserving the 1 e. i p liirst, it excludes the exterior air from the wooden pipe; and the said pipe being quite thin, so that the water from inside completely saturates it through, by this exclusion of the exterior surface from the air, a continual or incessant saturation is maintained, thereby renderin the wood perpetually sound and durable, since it is well known that wood, subjected to constant, complete saturation of water, to the exclusion of atmospheric air, and the alternate evaporation and absorption conse uent upon its changes, will remain sound or an indefinite or unknown length of time. And under such circumstances, if the water contains silica, or other equivalent substance, in solution, the wood may become petrified. If it were not for this covering, the air would reach 'the wood, through the earth, and cause final, if not early decay.

Second, the calcareous covering effectually preserves the iron or other metallic bands, from oxidation, not only by excluding the air, on the same principle as the wood is preserved from decay, but by what is generallyunderstood to be protectionof chemical action; it being a well established fact that calcareous cement, in damp situations, almost perfectly prevents the oxidation of iron in contact with it, oxygen having a 'reater or stronger affinity for lime, than or iron or other metal used.

The thickness of the coat of cement should be suflicient to furnish a complete shield and protection, as above specified, and it need be no thicker. When the pipe is large, it is laid and put together in the trench, a bed of the cement, in its soft state, being put in to receive it, and then molded around it, as indicated in Fig. 4. But merchantable pipes, including service pipes and small mains, of not more than about two inches bore, are covered with the cement at the manufactory. And since the simple calcareous cement is hardly able to withstand the violence of handling and transporting, I ordinarily surround it with another coat of a bituminous composition, such as coal-tar, or asphaltum, mixed with sand, till the proper consistency is attained. This composition, being tough and adhesive, effectually preserves the cement from abrasion anddisruption, so that the pipe may be even roughly handled withoutinjury. Instead of an outer covering of thebituminous compound, it may enter, as an ingredient of the cement itself, in suflicient quantity to secure the requisite degree of cohesion.

The'thi-mbles or short tubes D, by which the joints of the wooden pipe are coupled, have their interior diameter or bore, the same as that of the pipe itself. Their thickness is'about halfas'great as that of thepipe. Each end of the pipe sections is bored out, (as at a, Figs. 1 and 3) just large and deep enough to receive one half of each thimble, so that when the sections are put together, the thimbles will unite them closely, strongly and smoothly, and break joints, as seen in Fig. 2. N Then the swelling of the wood, when the water is let into the pipe, renders the joints perfectly water tight. Thus the interior of the pipe is continuous and even almost as perfectly so as if in one piece. When the pipe is laid the joints may be luted, on the outside, with the cement, so as to completely exclude the air at those places.

I The thimbles D, D, are cut by annular augers, in the same manner as the wooden pipe; and also the annular rabbetspaces a, a, for the reception of the thimbles, are formed with the same kind of augers; so that the entire construction of the wooden pipes, complete for putting together is effected with the simplest machinery, in the I method of construction known to me, have equal thinness of-the Wood and consequent economy and completeness of the saturation thereof, nor equally perfect protection from decay and oxidation, nor equal effectiveness, security and simplicity in joining the pipe together, been at once attainable, while all the strength and superiority of the water pipe itself, which can be desired, is secured. Hence, while I disclaim the mere use of any and all of the materials employed, and all modes of combining them substantially different from that above described, I do assert my right to the combined construction, by which I efiect these superior advantages named.

Therefore what I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The water pipe, composed of the thin interior Wooden pipe A, the metallic coils or combination With the pipe constructed, subbands OB, aroulclld 1ilt, and1t-he( caipareousi1 cestantially as and for the purpose described. ment aroun t e who e, eit er Wit or Without the bituminous coat or ingredient) ARCALOUS WYQKOFF' constructed and combined substantially as Witnesses: and for the purposes herein specified. G. HURLBUT,

2. The interior Wooden thimbles D, D, in L. B. SWAN. 

